In 1999, I decided to initiate a selection program in the species Nyssa sylvatica with the intention of improving horticultural characteristics of nursery produced trees. In the summer and fall of each year from 1999 through 2009, I walked numerous rows in a Boring, Oreg. nursery. Each row consisted of hundreds of trees and I examined each tree for desirable horticultural traits. I marked and numbered the very best trees. In the summer of 2005, I discovered a particularly upright three year old tree growing in one of the nursery rows with unusually dark green and attractive foliage. This became my 16th Nyssa sylvatica selection discovered as part of this selection program, and I subsequently named it ‘JFS-red’. In my evaluation of ‘JFS-red’ in the autumn of 2005, I noted that it also had unusually bright red fall color.
In March of 2006, I directed the digging and transplanting of ‘JFS-red’ into a long term experimental evaluation block for further observation in the same Boring, Oreg. nursery. I continued to observe, compare, and evaluate this tree in this location until November 2011, at which time I directed that it be transplanted into an open location in the Boring, Oreg. nursery where it would have more space to grow. I continued my evaluations of this selection at this new location.
Also in March of 2006, I began asexual test propagation of ‘JFS-red’ by directing the grafting of 20 plants, using common Nyssa sylvatica seedlings as rootstock. Of these 20 grafting attempts, 17 were successful and resulted in viable plants of ‘JFS-red’. In May, 2007, I transplanted the strongest eight of these plants into a nursery row, and in June of 2008, I transplanted an additional five plants into a different nursery row location, both being in the same Boring, Oreg. nursery. I then destroyed the remaining four grafted plants. For the purpose of additional test propagation, I chip budded four Nyssa sylvatica ‘JFS-red’ seedlings in another nursery row in the Boring, Oreg. nursery in August of 2008. Three of the chip budded trees grew successfully from this trial, and the failed tree was destroyed. In each of the three instances of test growing of ‘JFS-red’, I observed and evaluated the trees for the following three years. Of these test propagated trees, seven were retained and transplanted into a stock block location in anticipation of future propagation. The remaining test propagated trees were destroyed.
All of this asexual propagation of my new variety in Boring, Oreg. by grafting and budding on Nyssa sylvatica rootstock has shown that the characteristics of my new tree are firmly fixed in successive generations. Testing, evaluation, and comparison of ‘JFS-red’ with seedlings of the species and existing commercial cultivars of Nyssa sylvatica has convinced me that my new tree has superior form and appearance for landscape use.